Day: January 6, 2013

A terminally ill fan who was granted his dying wish to see the not-yet-released Star Trek sequel, died yesterday, according to the New York Asian Film Festival, who posted the news to their Facebook.

41-year-old Dan Craft, an avid fan of film and of Star Trek, was given an advanced screening of an unfinished version of Star Trek Into Darkness after a friend’s post about his situation on Reddit got the attention of the film’s director J.J. Abrams [read J.J. Abrams Shows Unfinished Cut Of ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ To Man Weeks From Death]. The film is schedule for release in the U.S. on May 17, 2013.

Just before he died yesterday, Craft told his wife, “I’m going…into the future.”

According to a message from Craft’s wife posted on Reddit, over the last few years Craft had undergone three rounds of chemotherapy for Leukemia (CML) before receiving a bone marrow transplant, followed by more chemo, radiation, and numerous hospital stays as well as endured much pain and suffering from complications. But Leukemia was not the cause of his death; after all he went through, Craft was then stricken with a totally unrelated, aggressive cancer, an extremely rare vascular tumor that was crowding out his healthy liver tissue and the treatment given for this only caused it to grow. At that point, there was nothing that could be done for him, only to make him comfortable until his imminent passing.

Craft had wanted to see the 9-minute preview of Star Trek Into Darkness that is playing in front of IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but he was hospitalized. Craft was eventually taken to a theater to see it, but the showing he attended did not have the preview. Knowing what it would mean to the man to see just a mere few minutes of film before he passed, Craft’s wife and friend took to Reddit to ask if someone could help make this happen. After quickly spreading through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, it was brought to the attention of J.J. Abrams, who then arranged a special screening of the film, which is still in production, for Craft just days before he died.

On Dec. 26 the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors was aired on national television for the first time on CBS. During the event, which took place at the Kennedy Center Opera House, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of Heart performed Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” with Jason Bonham on drums.

The honor is given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture and in 2012 the surviving members of Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant) were among those honored. During their segment, the Foo Fighters performed “Rock and Roll,” Lenny Kravitz performed “Whole Lotta Love,” and Kid Rock performed both “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and “Ramble On”.